


In the Nick of Time

by GaeilgeRua



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Language, Lily survives, Prophecy What Prophecy, Sirius Black Never Went to Azkaban
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2020-12-21 15:08:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21076913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GaeilgeRua/pseuds/GaeilgeRua
Summary: Sirius had a contingency plan in place that no one knew about, and he's glad he did.





	In the Nick of Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mute90](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mute90/gifts).

> This was written for the 2019 Sirius Black Fest on Tumblr. My prompt was #3-Sirius arrives at Godric's Hollow in time to help Lily and Harry escape.
> 
> Many thanks go to my Alpha/beta team of starrnobella and JenniseiBlack. Any errors after they look it over are my own. To mute90, thank you for this fantastic prompt. I know I didn't really touch on all your likes, but I'm already planning on adding on to this, so you'll see more then. I also want to thank the mods for running this fest! I was excited to try my hand with the Marauders Era characters more.
> 
> Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.

"Lily! Take Harry and run!" James shouted as he shoved his wife towards the stairs.

She was halfway up them when their front door was blasted off its hinges. A yelp fell from her lips as she sprinted the rest of the way. Not looking back, knowing that if she did, then everything would be over and that bastard would have an open shot at her son, Lily darted down the hallway.

"Over my dead body," she growled as she reached her son's room.

Opening the door, she felt her heart shatter when she heard Voldemort's curse and heard the thump of a body, her husband's body, hit the floor seconds after a flash of green light lit up their no longer safe, safe house. Not taking the time to mourn her loss, she slammed the door behind her and threw up every ward in her curse breaker apprenticeship arsenal.

"That should delay him long enough," she muttered.

Lily quickly crossed the small room and picked up Harry from his crib. He was awake, and she could see that he was scared, but as of yet, there were no waterworks. Something the redheaded witch was extremely grateful for.

"Come on, little love," Lily said, grabbing the emergency bag from under his crib. "We're going on a trip."

Throwing the strap over her shoulder, Lily tightened her grip on her wand and tried to Disapparate.

Nothing happened.

Anti-apparition wards Lily realised as the door to Harry's nursery shook from the force of Voldemort trying to get in.

Harry whimpered.

Lily kissed the top of his head, whispering, "Sh, little love."

She stepped to the side, so they were no longer directly in front of the door and prepared to fight her way out. Lily could feel that he was dismantling her wards one by one, but then suddenly, the wood stopped rattling, and the rest of her wards remained intact. Not looking a gift unicorn in the face, Lily quickly put up the wards Voldemort had already dismantled if only to slow him down.

Flashes of light appeared under the door, and Lily stayed rooted where she was as she tried to figure out what was going on.

"This is for James!" She heard a voice yell through the closed door.

"Sirius," she breathed.

"_Avada Kedavra!_" Both voices yelled as two flashes of light lit up the cottage in a blaze of green.

A loud crash followed as one of their spells smashed into a wall. Seconds later, Lily heard the sound of another body dropping to the floor.

Silence descended over the place she could no longer call home and its occupants.

Lily held her breath, waiting for what came next.

The door handle rattled before she could hear Sirius swear through the wood. "Bloody fuck that hurt! Lils, open this door!"

Hurrying over, Lily started to remove her wards. She stopped short.

"Lils? What is it?"

"I'm sorry, Sirius," Lily whispered, "but I have to ask… what was it you told me as we danced at my wedding reception?"

She could hear Sirius' soft sigh through the wood that separated them. "That while James is my brother, I would stop at nothing to protect you, even from him."

A pained smile twisted her lips as she closed her eyes against the onslaught of emotions running through her. She raised her wand and quickly dismantled the rest of her wards. Once they were gone, she opened the nursery door.

"Thank Merlin you are both okay," Sirius whispered as he stepped through the doorway.

"Pad!" Harry exclaimed as Sirius wrapped Lily and Harry in his arms.

* * *

"How did you know?" Lily questioned as she joined Sirius in his living room after putting Harry to sleep. "How did you know we were under attack? You weren't the Secret Keeper."

When Aurors arrived on the scene after being alerted by the casting of multiple dark curses, Lily and Sirius gave abbreviated statements about what happened. They agreed to speak with them again if needed. Now with nowhere else to go for Lily and baby Harry, they were in the flat Sirius shared with Remus.

"I don't know how to explain it, but something told me not to trust Peter, so before Dumbledore cast the Fidelius Charm, I placed a couple of surveillance spells around the house to alert me in case the charm fell." Sirius rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry I couldn't save James."

Lily grabbed his hand. "It all happened so fast, so please don't blame yourself. Voldemort is dead, and you were able to save Harry and me. I don't know how to repay you."

"You don't have to repay me," Sirius replied as he squeezed her hand in response. "The fact that you're both alive is all I need right now. And that rat bastard behind bars."

"He'll get what's coming to him," Lily promised.

Sirius chuckled. "I think I'm supposed to be telling you that."

Lily shrugged. "You took out Voldemort even with the prophecy. Dumbledore is going to have a field day with tha—" A massive yawn cut off her last word. Giving Sirius a tired smile, Lily added, "It's the least I can do."

He stood up and moved in front of Lily. Holding out his hand, Sirius said, "Come on, Lils. Let's get you to bed."

"I'm not sure how much sleep I'll get tonight, or any night in the near future for that matter," Lily muttered as she accepted his hand.

"You need to try at least, and I'll be up for a while still if you need me", Sirius offered.

"Thank you, Sirius," Lily told him as he walked her to where she and Harry were sleeping for the foreseeable future. Sirius' bed. "For taking us both in. I'm not sure where we would have gone if you hadn't been there."

"No need to thank me, Lils. I do not take lightly what I told you on your wedding night. You're not just one of my best friends."

Squeezing his hand that still held hers, Lily whispered, "I know." Emotions clogged her throat, and she smiled weakly up at Sirius.

Realising he was pushing her, Sirius released her hand. "Let me grab my pyjamas, and then I'll be out of your hair."

Lily watched as Sirius silently darted into his room, grabbed what he needed, and appeared back at her side. He had offered up his room to Lily and baby Harry and said he would sleep on the sofa, or Remus' bed whenever the werewolf wasn't there. According to Sirius, their friend had been gone more and more often recently. Out on missions for the Order.

"Have you reached out to Remus to let him know what's happened?"

Sirius shook his head. "I don't have any way to contact him, but Dumbledore said he would bring Remus back for us as quickly as possible."

"Okay, good." Lily shuffled nervously on her feet for a moment before she shook her head. "Goodnight, Sirius."

"Goodnight, Lils."

"Thanks again," she added as she closed the door behind her.

* * *

Lily woke in the middle of the night to find a pair of strong arms wrapped around her, holding her close to a warm, solid body. Cracking open an eye, she saw a tattooed arm wrapped around her waist. Turning over in his arms, Lily shook him awake.

"Sirius," she hissed.

It took a few more moments to gain his attention.

"What is it?" Sirius mumbled, his eyes slowly focusing on her.

"What are you doing in bed with me?"

Sirius was silent as he stared at her for a few moments, processing what she asked. "You had a nightmare and only calmed down when I laid down next to you."

"Oh, I'm so sorry for waking you up!"

"You didn't," Sirius assured her. "I was still awake."

"What about Harry? Is he okay?"

"He was a little fussy when I came in, so I picked him up and held him as I sat next to you. Once he calmed down, I put him back in his crib. As I started to leave, I could hear you whimper, so that's when I decided to just stay." He slid out of bed. "I'll get up and let you go back to sleep."

"Thank you, Sirius," Lily said as he shuffled across his room. "I really appreciated everything you've done for us."

"Anytime, Lils," he replied.

* * *

Early the next morning, Lily woke to find her head pillowed on Sirius' chest. He'd chased away another nightmare.

A little over a week later, Lily realised she needed to stop fighting her nightmares as she found out that she was disturbing Harry's sleep also and she suggested Sirius start the night with her as a way to try and keep them away. It was a couple of weeks later that her nightmares began to lessen and she was able to sleep through most of the night. Sirius offered to let her have his bed back, but she didn't take him up on it as she knew the nightmares would return.


End file.
